


The Lost Prince of Dunbroch

by JunoInferno



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Anastasia AU, F/M, Maybe - Freeform, Rumbelle Christmas in July, Smut, Violence, fairchildandlarabee, genderbent, rcij
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-26
Updated: 2015-07-26
Packaged: 2018-04-11 02:07:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4416911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JunoInferno/pseuds/JunoInferno
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Dark One returns Rumplestiltskin, the Lost Prince of Dunbroch, to his rightful place. Also, smut.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Lost Prince of Dunbroch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fairchildandlarabee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairchildandlarabee/gifts).



> This is my Rumbelle Christmas in July Gift for fairchildandlarabee. She asked for a Don Bluth Studios AU and I bounced around a few different ideas until I decided upon this riff on Anastasia with Rumple as Anastasia and a Dark One Belle with a side of Brave. As you can probably guess some of the not spoilers got to me. Anyway, I hope you like it.

* * *

Once upon a time, there was a young maiden named Belle who lived in an enchanted world.

 

She was brave and beautiful and clever and… maybe just a little bit funny.

Then her world became not so enchanted and Belle sought a way to save her land and her people. In her books, she found mention of a powerful dagger with which all things were possible.

She found the dagger and the man who held it. He teased her and taunted her bravery, placing the dagger in her hand and daring her to stab him if she really wanted the power.

And she did.

It wasn’t until the darkness overcame her, covering her like a fog that she realized the magnitude of what she had done.

_“You belong to me now…”_ the darkness taunted her.

 

* * *

 _ **Centuries Later**_  
 

“No, please, he’s just a boy!,” Rumple pled.

Hordor sneered at him. “Fourteen is old enough according to the law.”

The neighbors watched helplessly as they had watched Morraine and her parents day before.

“It’s okay, Papa,” said Baelfire.

Rumplestiltskin fell apart on the spot, collapsing against his walking stick. The soldiers laughed and the neighbors lamented the womanish display.

“I wonder if I might be of assistance…”

Hordor and his men looked up at the petite figure in a black cloak. She didn’t show her face, but Rumplestiltskin thought her voice sounded like honey.

Hordor laughed, leading his men in a mocking guffaw. The figure approached.

“A woman?”

The figure slowly removed her cloak.

“Do you think you can barter with me?”

“No, I just don’t want to get blood on this,” she said, putting it aside. “It’s impossible to clean.”

Rumplestiltskin looked up at the figure. She was clad in a black corset with touches of lace on leather, skintight leather trousers and impossibly high leather boots. The outfit was unusual, but not the most notable thing. Up next would be the gray gold scales that covered every inch of exposed skin.

Rumplestiltskin thought her eyes were more noticeable. At least he would later because right now he was trying to think of some way to get Bae back.

“Let the boy go,” she said firmly.

“Says who?,” Hordor asked.

“Belle.”

There were some gasps from the men and Rumplestiltskin was scarcely less impressed. The Belle? The Dark One? He had expected someone…

Well, not her and clearly neither had Hordor’s men.

“I only obey orders of the Duke.”

“And who are you to dare defy the Dark One?”

“Hordor,” he said confidently.

“Hordor…” she said slowly. “I know that name. You destroyed the library at Edelweiss.”

He seemed to want to preen at this pronouncement of his accomplishment and he might have were it not for the dagger in his throat. Belle twisted the weapon, pulled it out and looked at his men.

“You’ll not take the boy.”

The men ran and Baelfire scrambled back to his father. The neighbors left and Belle composed herself, magicking away the blood and flipping her hair back. Rumplestiltskin held on to his son, totally perplexed by the display. She turned back to him and walked over.

“Sorry about that…” she said, motioning at the corpse. “In your front garden and all. I feel very strongly about libraries.”

“It’s no matter,” said Rumplestiltskin. He and Bae exchanged puzzled expressions. “Is there anything I can do to repay you, my lady?”

“Yes,” said Belle. “It just so happens I’m looking for the Lost Prince of Dunbroch.”

“My mother was from Dunbroch.”

Belle smiled, her glinting teeth revealing gold sparkle on the scales. “Exactly.”

* * *

 

Rumplestiltskin had been a spinner almost as long as he could remember but never had he encountered something quite so fine. When he looked in the mirror at himself he thought he could almost pass for something like nobility. The breeches and boots were of the top quality. The shirt was a simple white but very fine indeed. The show was all in the waistcoat and topcoat, the former being entirely gold and the latter a rich blue with gold brocade embellishments. Rumplestiltskin felt as if he were wearing a sack of money, the new cane wasn't half bad, either, never had he seen so much finery in his life.

The Dark One insisted he was royalty, rattling off something about blood magic, but Rumple knew he had to be careful to remember he was no prince. If he let that knowledge slip he would surely give the game away, letting down his son and failing to uphold his deal with the Dark One.

The Dark One shimmered into place behind Rumplestiltskin.

“You look very…”

He cringed, awaiting her disappointed verdict. Who was he fooling? He was no prince, he was a coward, he-

“Handsome, Rumplestiltskin,” she finished.

He was so surprised that an eternity seemed to pass before he could find his tongue again.

He sputtered to reject his benefactor’s compliment. “I’m no prince.”

She shrugged. “Princes will always disappoint.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want to disappoint you,” he said before his mind could catch up with his mouth.

She stared at him from those cerulean eyes set apart so strangely from her golden hued skin. They seemed to be stuck in the ground. Everything happened so slowly when they looked at one another, truly looked. Rumplestiltskin thought back to that moment in the Frontlands when the Dark One had named her price. Was it done out of sheer opportunism or something more? For the first time, Rumplestiltskin let his thoughts drift to the possibility that it wasn’t merely because she wanted something from him.

He quickly squashed those thoughts. He was here for Bae and that was it.

“But will I disappoint Queen Elinor? That’s the question.”

“Well, I suppose we’ll find out.”  
 

* * *

 

The exiled queen’s home was located near Firefly Hill. In her dignified exile, she kept but one servant. The ball was an annual fixture to mourn the loss of Dunbroch, attended by luminaries from the surrounding kingdoms.

So they were more than a little surprised to see the Dark One with a man no one had ever seen on her arm.

Elinor looked down at them from her place on the dais.

“And who might this be?”

Belle answered which was a good thing because Rumplestiltskin had frozen when questioned. Queen Elinor had such an imperious presence, when she made her query the whole ballroom stood at attention.

“The Lost Prince of Dunbroch, Your Majesty.”

“Is he? That’s the fourth one this month.”

“I assure you he is quite genuine.”

Elinor looked directly at Rumplestiltskin. “Well, he looks somewhat like him, I grant you that. Another Rumplestiltskin, I suppose..

“Rumplestiltskin,” he stammered and the people laughed until Elinor shot one of her famous glares.

She turned back to him,

“And what could you tell me of your mother that makes me think you tell the truth?”

“I…”

Belle's brief glance at Rumplestiltskin revealed he was already trembling. Belle knew he was a man of a nervous disposition and it would have been a challenge to anyone standing before this court. 

“He was very young when he lost her,” Belle interjected.

“Can he not speak for himself without your magical intervention?”

“If I were going to intervene magically, you would hardly be aware of it,” snapped Belle.

“She sang to me,” Rumplestiltskin offered.

Elinor was not impressed.

“You may leave.”

Belle glowered at the Queen, the darkness within her thought of all sorts of ways to get back at her for dismissing them, but before she could start with any of them, Rumplestiltskin began to sing.

"A naoidhean bhig, duinn mo ghuth, Mise ri d' thaobh, O mhaighdean bhan

Ar righinn oig, fas as faic, Do thir, dileas fhein, A ghrian a's a ghealaich, stuir sinn

Gu uair ar cliu s ar gloire, Naoidhean bhig, ar righinn og, Mhaighdean uashaill bhan…”

The Queen sat silent. Belle stared in wide-eyed wonder at her charge. She knew immediately by the betrayal of emotion in the exiled monarch’s face that it had worked. Rumplestiltskin, for all intents and purposes, was the Lost Prince of Dunbroch.

* * *

 

“Rumple?”

Belle had come out to  the garden in search of her charge. The whole deal had gone swimmingly. Word had spread throughout the forest of the found prince and Belle was glad to see Rumplestiltskin and Baelfire safely among family. The temporary disappearance had worried her. She walked to the bench overlooking the water. Rumplestiltskin sat alone. She joined him.

“You know you ought to be in there,” said Belle. “Baelfire is getting on very well with his great-grandmama.”

“What have I done?”

“What do you mean?”

He shook his head. “I’m not this. I can’t be- a, a prince? A king? I’m a coward and a lame one at that. What business do I have sitting on a throne?”

“Rumple,” Belle pulled down her cowl, “I’ve been at this quite some time and believe me when I tell you that you have more nobility in your little finger than most kings and princes.”

He still shook. “No, I can’t. All those people, counting on me?”

“You don’t have to be afraid, Rumple.”

He snorted. “That’s all I’ve ever been.”

“That’s not true,” she said taking his hand. “Any kingdom would be lucky to have you as its ruler, Rumplestiltskin.”

“No one could ever want me.”

“Don’t say that,” said Belle. “I would-”

She stopped as Rumplestiltskin looked up at her with a mixture of disbelief and hope he was attempting to stop in its tracks.

Once upon a time she had been a brave maiden.

Perhaps it was time to be brave again.

“I know how it feels to feel as if you couldn’t be loved…” she drifted off. “And for you, Rumplestiltskim, that’s just not the case.”

She meant to say something about having a son and a grandmother who were sure to love him dearly, but instead found her lips on his. It began sweet and tender, then grew desperate as he didn’t spurn her advances. Was this real? Could this be happening?

She freed herself to edge closer, to bring her hands to run through his hair and how he practically mewed from the attention. They were both such lonely desperate creatures that they practically melted against each other; he feeling the chill of her scales, she feeing warmth for the first time in centuries.

His lips drifted away from her mouth and Belle briefly mourned the loss as he unfastened her cloth, pushing it aside to kiss at her neck, then he pushed the collar of her dress away to kiss her shoulders. He reached further and she stilled his hand.

Rumplestiltskin looked at her in disappointment, but an expected one.

“You don’t-”

“No, I do-” She bit her lip. “Promise you won’t be revolted.”

He shook his head. “Never.”

She kissed him fiercely and he seemed surprised then bemused by the passion behind it. Belle tried to think through their current predicament as she nibbled along his neck. They were in the Queen’s Garden, they had on entirely too many clothes and gods, she needed him now. A young maiden might have been able to stop herself, but Belle hadn’t been that in a few centuries.

An impulsive flick of the wrist found them in her bedchambers, bared to each other, lit by the fireplace and candles. Belle had taken the next logical step of placing them on the bed and it as this escalation that gave them both pause. Rumplestiltskin futilely looked to hide his mangled leg- not that Belle was looking there. Belle found herself in the predicament of having a body covered in scales to hide, suddenly grasping at the sheets to pull around herself. Rumplestiltskin stilled her hand.

“Don’t.”

She loosened her grip and he pushed her hands aside, laying down over her.  He started by cupping her breasts, her back arched as he began to gently massage them and Belle was reminded of how long it had been since she had any kind of physical attentions. His every touch made her light-headed and nearly useless. She  tried to think of something to do besides passing her hands over the planes of his back, but he took his tongue to her breast and she decided to be worshipped.

He ran his hands along her belly, taking his time to feel the scales, seemingly fascinated by them.

“You feel wonderful…” he marveled.

“Really?”

“Yes, really.” He kissed her again, trailing from her lips down her neck across her stomach and then tender kissed at her thighs. Belle’s legs fell open for him. She just wanted more.

If he was a little unskilled, he made up for that in enthusiasm as he sought to lick her folds. The gentle exploration was a little too gentle and Belle sought to reward each sensation of pleasure with an enthusiastic moan. The strategy worked and he grew bolder as he circled just around her clit, bringing in a finger to pump and adding a second. She thrust her hips as he played the two parts in tune, until she came apart for him, spasming until he gently kissed his way back up, his face covered in her nectar.

Any wife who had teased him was an idiot.

Belle came to her senses and kissed him back.

“That was so good, Rumple…” She brought her hands back to comb through his hair. “Perhaps this time we could do it together…”

She thrust her hips to grind against his erection. He shrank away.

“What, Rumple?” The dark voice inside her started snapping at her, of course he wouldn’t want her, not like that. “You don’t want to?”

“This is hardly lack of want.”

“Then what?”

“My leg…” He looked away in shame. “I can’t…”

“I could be on top,” she offered eagerly as if she hadn’t pictured that scenario half a dozen times.

While not seeming opposed, Rumplestiltskin wasn’t exactly jumping on the idea.

“Don’t worry, my love…” She waved a hand again, sending a pulse of magic to the leg.

“How did you-” He looked at her in amazement. “What?”

“I haven’t completely healed it, just disguised the pain…” She ran her finger down his nose. “Healing takes time and… practice. Do you think you can manage that?”

He grinned back. “Yes.”

Rumplestiltskin resumed his place over her and took her breasts in hand again, rolling and teasing the nipples. Belle finally fought back with her own teasing, playing at his nipples and smoothly caressing down to his now hot and heavy cock. His eyes snapped shut as she stroked him and his hips involuntarily thrust forward to her.

“May I?”

She thought she might cry from the gesture, grinding against him to make sure she didn’t.

“You may…” she purred back and he groaned. The spinner was immediately transformed with her urging, nudging her legs apart and taking himself in hand.

He thrust into her quickly, completely sheathing himself. Belle moaned appreciatively, but she wasn’t sure he noticed, his eyes were already so far back in his head.

“You feel so good…” He groaned again shifting back. “So good.”

Rumplestiltskin tried for smooth thrusts but nearly pulled himself out every time. Belle liked the pace, after all, they had both been alone far too along for any real gentleness, she grasped at his arse, digging her claws in which only seemed spur him on, making him more ragged in his thrusts. She dug her heels into his calves and that made him grab her legs and stop.

Belle worried she had done something wrong, that her magic hadn’t been enough for his leg.

“Rumple?”

One look up at her and she realized she need not have worried. He was almost predatory now and pushed her legs back and placed them over his shoulders.

He began a final push, pounding into her, every thrust hitting that spot inside her. Desperate for more, Belle took her hand to play with her clit, trying to meet her pushes with his thrusts until they were both pushed over the edge, breathless as they collapsed into each other, very satisfied, resting in a tangle of limbs until the fire and the candles died out.

“He can’t want you…” the darkness inside her said. “He’s just used you. No one could want you.”  

* * *

Belle left before Rumplestiltskin woke up.

It didn’t matter if he loved her or if she loved him.

She was the Dark One and no prince could be with the Dark One. Belle also thought that no Dark One should have a companion, worried that at any moment the darkness could leap out of her and smite anyone near.

The spinner was a prince once more. He and his boy would live in luxury and security. All around it had been a good deal. Belle ought to have delighted in that. Belle had always wanted to be a hero, to give her people the happy ending they deserved, but the power of the Dark Curse had come with a price. That price was that the good didn’t always win.

Part of Belle screamed to hang onto him. So Belle ignored that part and listened to the part that said to let him go, that he would be better off.

She was a villain and villains didn’t get happy endings.

 

* * *

 

Belle shimmered into the room where Elinor sat.

“Come for your reward, have you?”

“No,” said Belle.

“No?,” Elinor asked.

“I have no need of reward. I’ll take my leave. Good day.”

She turned to leave.

“You love him, don’t you?,” asked Elinor.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Belle walked out.

 

* * *

 

To his great alarm, Rumplestiltskin awoke alone. After managing to find some clothes- which was a feat considering he was magicked nude- he saw Belle leaving through the courtyard.

“Belle… Belle…”

She just kept walking. She left like they all did in the end.

Rumplestiltskin wanted to hide, to slink away. He turned to find Elinor was with him on the balcony.

“Is this what you want, Rumple?”

He shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

“I think you wish to go home.”

He scoffed at the thought. “Hardly.”

“Home is a place where you know you are loved and I think for you that may not be here. I think you may have found home… with someone else.”

“Belle?” He shook his head. “No. She could never love me, who could? This was all just a deal for her.”

“Is it?” She looked at the pile of treasures. “Then it seems very strange that she’s left her reward.”

“What? Why would she do that?”

“Well, go and ask her already.” Elinor waved her hand at him and that simple gesture was enough to spur him on.

 

* * *

 

  
“Belle!”

As he called for her again, Belle heard the darkness grow louder.

“Leave him. He doesn’t love you. No one could. He wants what you can give him…”

“No,” said Belle.

“Kill him…” the darkness urged.

“No!!!,” she screamed.

Rumplestiltskin could see it now and clearly. They were two separate entities the Dark One and Belle. It was there like a cloud of black fog that choked everything it encountered, knocking him to his knees.  

“Belle, please, Belle-” he trembled.

“Finish him!,” the darkness hissed.

“No, Belle, this isn’t you! You can fight it!”

And so it had come to this as Rumplestiltskin felt her clawed hands closing around his neck. There were tears in her eyes as she tried to regain control from the darkness.

The black fog was cast aside and Belle went flying back. Rumplestiltskin hobbled to her side.

She lay flopped against the ground like a ragdoll. He pushed aside her cowl to see her face and failed to notice the glittering gray gold had been replaced by near porcelain.

“Belle, Belle…”

Her eyes fluttered open.

“Rumple?,” she said softly. He helped her to sit and saw the shocked expression in her face as her scales were gone. “It’s-- I’m--”

“Take your time, sweetheart. How do you feel?”

She smiled and her eyes were shiny with tears. “My curse. It’s gone. I’m human again.”

Belle looked up at him. “Rumple?”

He shrugged. “I’m happy if you’re happy.”

She smiled at him again. “You really didn’t care, did you?”

Rumplestiltskin shook his head. “Why would I?”

She kissed him again.

 ****


End file.
